A Season for Everything

The higher gas prices that have followed in the wake of hurricane Katrina have put a real crimp in not only my blogging, but my life in general. It now costs $70 or more to fill the tank on Hubby’s gas-inhaling monster of a pickup truck so he is staying in Erie more and coming home less….which totally sucks! Sure, there are a few perks like having control of the remote, doing less laundry, sprawling out over the whole bed (and not having to share the covers), and having a cleaner house in general, but it’s lonely. He’s home this weekend (obviously, since I’m using the laptop) so we’ve been cramming 2 weeks of parenting, decision-making, talking and being a couple into 2 days. Yesterday was all about Baby Girl. We left home at 11:00 for the mall and didn’t get home until after 7:00. That was huge! You have no idea how much Hubby hates going shopping. We patiently followed her around from store to store while she accumulated clothing, toys, shoes and who-knows-what-else. Hubby purchased new Nike’s and vitamins for ” men his age” at the GNC. I bought the game Sequence. Friends introduced us to it a few weeks ago and I am hooked. Lunch was late at Ruby Tuesday’s. We picked up videos on the way home (Without a Paddle and Dodgeball) and ordered pizza late. It was a really special day ‘cause Hubby wouldn’t do anything like that if he was at home all the time. Today is all about home. We need to close the pool for winter, put away all the outside furniture and clean and organize the sheds.

The down side to all this family togetherness is that I haven’t managed to study at all in the last 2 days and it’s not looking good for today. What am I studying? Real estate. I started classes to get my license this past week. Two nights a week I drive straight from work to Monroeville. The classes last until 10:00 and I don’t get home until 11:00. It’s proving to be tougher than I thought. Not the class, juggling life. Once Daughter goes to bed on Sunday I don’t see her again until Tuesday afternoon and then I don’t see her again from Tuesday evening till Thursday afternoon. Guilt. With Son away at school and Hubby working out of town, I feel like I’m abandoning her. Thank goodness my mom retired last Christmas and is able to come to the house every morning to get Daughter off to school and to stay with her Mondays and Wednesdays. It’s a huge help. At least it’s only for 7 more weeks and then life will get back to normal. Really normal because Hubby is due to finish his project in Erie at about the same time I finish the classes.

I’m off for more family time. Hubby’s due home next weekend for a family wedding so I’ll post again then.